Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 23: We Wonder Where Who Wanders When Watchers Wane

Pre-Vote Running Tally: Who Are Your Top 3 Choices For Orichalcum?


  • Total voters
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From what was said by @Twei? To get her to shut up and stop poisoning everyone against us (also stopping her convincing Brian we're murdering his sister and replacing her with a DOOM(!)bot)
Which does nothing about defining Aisha's Caste.
Remember, this is what the GM said:
So, time to cast the die! To whom are we offering the next slot in our Assembly?
REMEMBER: STUNT CAN HELP INFLUENCE ALCHEMICAL CASTE AND CHARM/ABILITY LOADOUT!
That is what your stunt should be doing, not fucking around with Lisa Wilbourn.
How on Earth does Miss Militia fit Ori?!
In addition to the Ori archetypes in the canon books?
Taylor received visions of additional Caste archetypes IC.
Chapter 2.6
You see a woman, a priest of some kind, speaking to her peers in tones of righteous fury. The words are unintelligible, but the objective is not: the system is failing, and this woman will ensure change is made before they lose their congregation to those that would pervert and undermine the Maker's doctrine.

A young man, much younger than the others around him, stands huddled around a map in a shadow-filled cavern of rust and oil. The din of battle swells from outside the cave's mouth but the gathering's focus is entirely on the young man. Slowly, he begins gesturing at map in patterns to indicate troop movements, causing the others around to nod in dawning awe and relief.

An older woman oversees hundreds of workers in a lab, each looking to her as she passes amongst them with critiques and corrections. She does this with a smile, not with a harsh tongue, and each researcher and worker is clearly more motivated and inspired for it.

ORICHALCUM
That's MM.
 
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Which does nothing about defining Aisha's Caste.
Remember, this is what the GM said:

That is what your stunt should be doing, not fucking around with Lisa Wilbourn.

In addition to the Ori archetypes in the canon books?
Taylor received visions of other
Chapter 2.6
That's MM.
I could see that. Same way the one above her is Armsmaster or Legend or Alexandria.

Top one could be Piggot or Lisa, perhaps. Or Accord.
 
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[X] Hannah Smith (Miss Militia)

Probably not going to see a Willow exalt--which makes me sad--but we don't know all that much about her yet, so I can hardly make a good argument for choosing her now. I've been thinking about Missy for a bit now, and I'm actually seriously considering holding off on her until a second set of Exaltation (if that ever occurs), because of the myriad issues that come with Exalting her. So... Miss Militia for Jade?
Unfortunately, we won't be able to Exalt everyone we want to. I would definitely like more Willow woobies, but there may be other roles we can bring her in on. As for candidates, we just have to focus on Grom's advice to pick who we want to see more of.

I wonder, though, what a Willow Shard-charm would look like. Plant-Essence interfacing?
Why exactly do people want Who so much, anyway? I haven't been paying that much attention to the great big vote argument since it was very confuse.
I'm not solidly in the Who camp, but I can see her appeal. For one, there's resolving her Shard issues, though that's a secondary bonus to completing the Mission. Moonsilvers are described as being infiltrators and spies, which Aisha already is with her power. On the personal front, she's shown loyalty and an attachment to Taylor. She isn't bothered by our Alchemical stuff (weirded out at times, but rolls with it), and is less attached to fitting in with the world at large (which, ironically, she might be able to do better after Exaltation). More than anything else, though, her personality brings something well, fun, to the Assembly. Taylor and Prayer are both super serious most of the time, and Saki likes to stay in the background (though she may blossom as she gets used to her powers). She looks at things differently than the rest of them, but still yields to decisions. That's almost precisely the role a Moonsilver is supposed to play in an Assembly.

My only concern is getting her to understand the seriousness of what's going on and of what we're asking of her. Admittedly, having her Vision would go a long way towards that. A heart-to-heart with Prayer about her role would not be out of place as a good Stunt.
He's one of the ones I'd not mind for Ori.
I'm really starting to feel Chevalier as an Orichalcum personality-wise, but I'm wondering if there would be power overlap between him and Prayer? I could see him as a Defensive Melee, but is that what we need from our Ori?
 
Unfortunately, we won't be able to Exalt everyone we want to. I would definitely like more Willow woobies, but there may be other roles we can bring her in on. As for candidates, we just have to focus on Grom's advice to pick who we want to see more of.

I wonder, though, what a Willow Shard-charm would look like. Plant-Essence interfacing?

I'm not solidly in the Who camp, but I can see her appeal. For one, there's resolving her Shard issues, though that's a secondary bonus to completing the Mission. Moonsilvers are described as being infiltrators and spies, which Aisha already is with her power. On the personal front, she's shown loyalty and an attachment to Taylor. She isn't bothered by our Alchemical stuff (weirded out at times, but rolls with it), and is less attached to fitting in with the world at large (which, ironically, she might be able to do better after Exaltation). More than anything else, though, her personality brings something well, fun, to the Assembly. Taylor and Prayer are both super serious most of the time, and Saki likes to stay in the background (though she may blossom as she gets used to her powers). She looks at things differently than the rest of them, but still yields to decisions. That's almost precisely the role a Moonsilver is supposed to play in an Assembly.

My only concern is getting her to understand the seriousness of what's going on and of what we're asking of her. Admittedly, having her Vision would go a long way towards that. A heart-to-heart with Prayer about her role would not be out of place as a good Stunt.

I'm really starting to feel Chevalier as an Orichalcum personality-wise, but I'm wondering if there would be power overlap between him and Prayer? I could see him as a Defensive Melee, but is that what we need from our Ori?
In the shard-charm, though remember that he does also have a thinker corollary.
 
Honestly? It's more that Missy basically informally adopted Taylor as her big sister, and should she not become Exalted, then we're looking at a very long and possibly very lonely immortality. Prayer and Saki just feel too reverent, too much at arms' length. It's part of why I want Aisha for Moonsilver: we need her irreverence and acceptable levels of disrespect to keep us grounded. With Missy...well, we need something more like family than Taylor has right now. Missy is as close as we have right now, with Danny off Infernaling for Cauldron.

Yeah that too (must collect little sisters!), we need close companions and we picked the Injector instead of the nanites so unless we wind up by Medicine 3-5 no immortality nanites for us/our friends. Plus I totally want to see just how adorable "BEST little sister" becomes with Appearance 5+
 
To be fair, I'm not sure what @uju32 's stunt really does either. Focus her charms? We pretty much know she's gonna be a Moonsilver regardless... Hrm.
Alchemicals play different roles.
What do you want her to do? Combat? Investigations? PR? Assassinations? Secret police?
How you frame it matters to what she gets.
I could see that. Same way the one above her is Armsmaster or Legend or Alexandria.
Top one could be Piggot or Lisa, perhaps. Or Accord.
Top one is GU or Piggot or Alexandria; either the cleric, or the necessary change theme.
Middle one is Accord or Armsmaster: Man with a plan.
Bottom is Legend or MM or Chevalier: charismatic leader/adviser..
 
Alchemicals play different roles.
What do you want her to do? Combat? Investigations? PR? Assassinations? Secret police?
How you frame it matters to what she gets.
Top one is GU or Piggot or Alexandria; either the cleric, or the necessary change theme.
Middle one is Accord or Armsmaster: Man with a plan.
Bottom is Legend or MM or Chevalier: charismatic leader/adviser..
Being fair, Chevalier in canon proved his capacity to be all three. He led the Protectorate reorganization, was on the ground command for a number of fights, and dos so charismatically.
 
Yeah that too (must collect little sisters!), we need close companions and we picked the Injector instead of the nanites so unless we wind up by Medicine 3-5 no immortality nanites for us/our friends. Plus I totally want to see just how adorable "BEST little sister" becomes with Appearance 5+
I wouldn't be surprised if she asked for Husk-Sculpting powered early puberty/ growing up.
 
In the shard-charm, though remember that he does also have a thinker corollary.
Which makes me more interested in seeing Accord as an Orichalcum. He's one of the most powerful Thinkers around (which Taylor knows thanks to Dragon). Taylor has a Thinker rating, but that's mainly to back up multitasking. And while her blessings from Autobot make her better than most Thinkers, imagine what an Alchemical with those same blessings AND a dedicated Thinker Shard-charm would be able to do.

Just spitballing.
WoG is that all minor Alchemicals get HSA as a mandatory part of their loadout.
*Who victory dance*
 
[X] Hannah Smith (Miss Militia)
-[X] "Autochthon is dying, even if we save him, we may have an entire planet of refugees we need to help. There is no one I trust more to care about that being done right than you. You are one of the best natural problem solvers I've ever met, and we need you as part of our team. I may not always agree with you but I always listen. You are the hero we need. "
 
It looks like Aisha's got this one in the bag, though there's still a chance of an Accord turn-around before the vote's up.

Poor Willow. No love for the dryad.

If we are going to go with Aisha, what are the ways we can generate XP for her Exaltation? It could very well take several updates to arrive at the actual Exaltation, so hopefully we can bank plenty of XP in the meantime. As I understand it, Aisha's combined youth & inexperience means that of all remaining candidates, she will need the most XP to improve her Alchemical form, whereas a candidate like Accord would need significantly less XP. I am admittedly unfamiliar with the mechanics of Exalted and plan on reviewing the discussion where Saki was Exalted and the related links on the first page over the weekend. Should we set an XP goal to strive for? I would not want to Exalt Aisha now and needlessly
(an irreparably?) nerf her stats.
 
Anybody remember Grace from the Chicago Wards?
Queen 18.5 said:
"Grace is a martial artist. She's got a power spread. Faster perception of time, enhanced agility, and a striker-class enhancement for select body parts at a time; invulnerability to both powers and general harm, as well as increased effect on contact."
Interesting package.
-[X] "Autochthon is dying, even if we save him, we may have an entire planet of refugees we need to help. There is no one I trust more to care about that being done right than you. You are one of the best natural problem solvers I've ever met, and we need you as part of our team. I may not always agree with you but I always listen. You are the hero we need. "
Qué?
 
[X]Aisha Laborn(Who) for Moonsilver Caste.
-[x]Inquisition stares at the ornate brass notebook in Taylor's hands like it's a loaded gun. Brian and Aisha look on, having sidestepped the confrontation entirely. "Look, either get some reasonable context for your Thinker power or just tell me why you're so fucking terrified. We don't have time for this."

I understand that we can influence Aisha's charm loadout with the stunt, but I'll be honest: I'll be perfectly happy with whatever she comes out with, because whatever it is, it'll be more than she has now. At this point in the story, I don't feel like we need to focus on powering up our Assembly any more, since we already have one of the best Stranger/Tinker/Thinker/Masters in the world, one of the strongest Brute/Movers, and probably the most diplomatic Mover/Changer/Striker (not to mention the allies who aren't part of the Assembly, such as Riley, Defiant, and Cauldron), and we know we could have won with just Taylor. Any Exaltations from now on are likely to be more about social wants and companionship than about any need for improved capabilities. Dealing with current issues seems like a better use of an available stunt, especially if it can work towards repairing relations with Tattletale and the Wyld Hunt before Tattletale's terror starts to wreck things.
 
Eden is screaming... she's still alive does the Eden avatar count as human? This is a stretch but... If we move the Eden avatar to Saki's prison. Inject a soul into her. Use POS to...shift the Eden Avatar over from Blue/Orange morality to Black/Grey/White morality. Via Srikala and Saki. Saki has all the POS charms, and Srikala's anima aura will make it seem like Autochthon himself is forcing the Eden avatar to become human. Align Saki's portal perfectly flush with the Cradle. Either we get an Exalt that understands Zion and is aghast at what the Cycle entails, A soul gem with the avatar inside (potential for barter with Zion?) , or the Viator will kill the avatar in Autochtonia. Taylor/Khepri used the likeness of Eden very effectively during the Golden Morning. If we could flip/steal her from the cause of the Cycle, or make her change the Cycle that uplifts Earth and Autochitonia, think of the possibilities.

This might be crazy, but it's worth asking. it won't leave me be.

[x] I'm copacetic with Gromweld's choice.
-Stunt: With all due diligence: "Saki, Srikala, I called this meeting in light of Autochthon's latest revelation. We have three slots to fill...and a lot of ways to do so. It's complicated, and the fate of the world hangs on us getting it right. I've cashed in a favor for -their- live Thinker analysis of our options. " Taylor inhaled and spoke "Door to me."

We have a lot of possible candidates, and honestly, while I have favorites, I don't have any who I'd reject outright. I just want to have fun, and I'm okay with whoever Grom chooses to advance the story, as long as the character is fun to read, helps out Taylor and fills in needs that we have. In any case, I think that it's better to have the characters debate rather than us. We may have the benefit of OOC knowledge, but we can't act in/upon the world. They can, and I feel that's a fair trade. Solve the problem organically, let the characters talk it out.
 
[X]Aisha Laborn(Who) for Moonsilver Caste.
-[x]Inquisition stares at the ornate brass notebook in Taylor's hands like it's a loaded gun. Brian and Aisha look on, having sidestepped the confrontation entirely. "Look, either get some reasonable context for your Thinker power or just tell me why you're so fucking terrified. We don't have time for this."

I understand that we can influence Aisha's charm loadout with the stunt, but I'll be honest: I'll be perfectly happy with whatever she comes out with, because whatever it is, it'll be more than she has now. At this point in the story, I don't feel like we need to focus on powering up our Assembly any more, since we already have one of the best Stranger/Tinker/Thinker/Masters in the world, one of the strongest Brute/Movers, and probably the most diplomatic Mover/Changer/Striker (not to mention the allies who aren't part of the Assembly, such as Riley, Defiant, and Cauldron), and we know we could have won with just Taylor. Any Exaltations from now on are likely to be more about social wants and companionship than about any need for improved capabilities. Dealing with current issues seems like a better use of an available stunt, especially if it can work towards repairing relations with Tattletale and the Wyld Hunt before Tattletale's terror starts to wreck things.

Except we need to pic a role (and Caste) for her and that stunt doesn't do anything for that.
 
Poor Willow. No love for the dryad.
For one thing, we don't know her know her.
For another, she's a Case 53; given what happened with Eden's avatar when we exalted Prayer, I'm not entirely sure we should be poking that anthill.
If we are going to go with Aisha, what are the ways we can generate XP for her Exaltation?
Omake. Fanart.
Dealing with current issues seems like a better use of an available stunt, especially if it can work towards repairing relations with Tattletale and the Wyld Hunt before Tattletale's terror starts to wreck things.
You know, you really shouldn't ignore the GM instructions about what you should be writing stunts for.
If your priority was Inquisition, you should have written a stunt for it during the last voting period, when we had THREE Free Actions.
 
I'm really starting to feel Chevalier as an Orichalcum personality-wise, but I'm wondering if there would be power overlap between him and Prayer? I could see him as a Defensive Melee, but is that what we need from our Ori?
With the right charm loadout, we can make him almost anything.

Think about it this way, Saki and Sakura had a Shard Power that had very little to do with the PR/Propaganda loadout we gave them. They were pretty good at social manipulation and stuff, but if we had wanted a more optimal PR/Propaganda Alchemical we probably could have taken Gallant or Glenn Chambers, but we took Saki and Sakura because they were maimed and because they were interesting characters.

Who/Aisha has an advantage as a infiltrator because we don't actually need to give her that many Stealth charms. Her shard charm will probably be better at sneaking around with than almost any native Alchemical charm. We just need to give her something that can evade electronic surveillance and she'll be good. She's already getting an automatic disguise charm in Husk Sculpting Apparatus. So by just purchasing two or three charms*, she can be the one of the best sneaks in the history of Earth Bet and possibly even Autochtonia. We we can use the rest of our resources to make her really good at something else, whether it's kung fu fighting, being as fast as lightning, hacking, whatever.

A similar sitiuation exists with Chevalier. Notwithstanding that most Exalted circles/assemblies/sworn brotherhoods I've seen have multiple people who are really good at fight, Chevalier is already really good at fighting. He's got top tier melee skills, ridiculous durability due to his armor, and a good ranged attack. With just a few charms, we can make him almost as good at fighting as Prayer. After that, we can make him good at a bunch of things. He's an inspiring leader, a bureaucrat, an expert at small unit tactics, an investigator, and we can choose the charms to make him the best at that thing while also being really really good at hitting things with swords.

*And that's assuming the shard-charm or it's upgrades won't have something for spoofing electronic surveillance.
 
Dealing with current issues seems like a better use of an available stunt, especially if it can work towards repairing relations with Tattletale and the Wyld Hunt before Tattletale's terror starts to wreck things.

You know, you really shouldn't ignore the GM instructions about what you should be writing stunts for.
If your priority was Inquisition, you should have written a stunt for it during the last voting period, when we had THREE Free Actions.
As much as I hate to say it, being the one who wrote that stunt to begin with: Uju isn't wrong*. Sorry, Atlas.

*though you could argue that Inquisition is in the way only because we want Aisha so much
 
[X]Aisha Laborn(Who) for Moonsilver Caste.
-[X]Stunt: Across from the Alchemicals, Aisha leaned forward, almost vibrating with anticipation."So what you're saying, yeah, is that you want me for James Bond? Or Electra?" Saki covers her mouth as Taylor winces. "Maybe less explosions? More like Veronica Mars...." "Sold! I'll be the best secret agent who ever agented! One question though." She points "I get Saki's disguise power, right?"

I'd prefer Vista, but I'd rather Aisha than accord's painfully boring face. I'd be willing to Accede to a sudden Miss Militia resurgence, mind.
 
[X]Aisha Laborn(Who) for Moonsilver Caste.
-[X]Stunt: Across from the Alchemicals, Aisha leaned forward, almost vibrating with anticipation."So what you're saying, yeah, is that you want me for James Bond? Or Electra?" Saki covers her mouth as Taylor winces. "Maybe less explosions? More like Veronica Mars...." "Sold! I'll be the best secret agent who ever agented! One question though." She points "I get Saki's disguise power, right?"

I'd prefer Vista, but I'd rather Aisha than accord's painfully boring face. I'd be willing to Accede to a sudden Miss Militia resurgence, mind.

Unfortunately requirements for a Caste get tighter with each Exaltation and since Vista is pretty much a pefect fit for Jade it's best to save her for last.
 
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[x] I'm copacetic with Gromweld's choice.
-Stunt: With all due diligence: "Saki, Srikala, I called this meeting in light of Autochthon's latest revelation. We have three slots to fill...and a lot of ways to do so. It's complicated, and the fate of the world hangs on us getting it right. I've cashed in a favor for -their- live Thinker analysis of our options. " Taylor inhaled and spoke "Door to me."
1) Taylor does not know of the Doormaker, or Clairvoyant, or the Door codes, nor does she have authorization to that network.
She has seen a Door, she doesn't know how it works.
You cannot fiat your way to Cauldron's most closely guarded secrets with a stunt.

2) You want to give Cauldron effective veto power over our choices.
Do I have to point out just how terribad this is?
Cauldron only shares some of our aims, not all of them.

3)Essence fucks with at least some of the Thinker powers available to Cauldron.
Even Contessa's power diverges after a bit, and Number Man's does nothing for people.
So quite literally, a Thinker analysis is worth negative points, especially since they know dickall about Autobot's criteria.
 
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Unfortunately requirements for a Caste get tighter with each Exaltation and since Vista is pretty much a pefect fit for Jade it's best to save her for last.

A fair point. Also it occurs to me that the whole assembly thing is still something the PRT's a bit...wibbly on, so it's probably best if we have some more time to bolster their confidence in the whole deal before we start asking for the well-loved ward with a foster family.
 
1) Taylor does not know of the Doormaker, or Clairvoyant, or the Door codes, nor does she have authorization to that network.
She has seen a Door, she doesn't know how it works.
You cannot fiat your way to Cauldron's most closely guarded secrets with a stunt.

2) You want to give Cauldron effective veto power over our choices.
Do I have to point out just how terribad this is?
Cauldron only shares some of our aims, not all of them.

3)Essence fucks with at least some of the Thinker powers available to Cauldron.
Even Contessa's power diverges after a bit, and Number Man's does nothing for people.
So quite literally, a Thinker analysis is worth negative points, especially since they know dickall about Autobot's criteria.


Shrug. It's worth a try.

And I basically meant what I said. It's hard. I may have a favorite but I don't really have a horse in the race. I think that if the due diligence was done in character, by omake or by Grom, there would be less acrimony and more... critical thinking over emotional reaction. "Who to Exalt" is starting to resemble voting for president, complete with political parties -and that's not fun. If I have to be anything, let me be the devil's advocate. There is a lot of bias and fallacy here. The partisans want what they want and tend to gloss over fallacy. We have Saki, but PR is not a master effect. We have a lot of possible candidates, but we really need to plan how to convince how we want to go about getting them.

Quite frankly, I don't think we are ready to make any snap decision about Exaltation. I think we need to ask a lot of hard questions and put our ideas through the dialectic until the fallacy and weakness has been beaten out of them.

Sadly I have to go to work. But I do have tomorrow off.
 
You know, you really shouldn't ignore the GM instructions about what you should be writing stunts for.
If your priority was Inquisition, you should have written a stunt for it during the last voting period, when we had THREE Free Actions.

Were those GM instructions in a voting guide or a previous thread? They don't seem to be included in his vote start post, since the only real instruction there is "REMEMBER: STUNT CAN HELP INFLUENCE ALCHEMICAL CASTE AND CHARM/ABILITY LOADOUT!". "Can" is not "will" or "has to". And this stunt is related to Aisha's Exaltation, as it is part of the discussion with the Wyld Hunt (primarily Brian, but the others will probably be there) about whether we can Exalt Aisha and will presumably make that permission easier to get without breaking relations with the group. The fact that it heads off potential future problems is just a bonus.
 
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